As per the Times of India, the number of consumer complaints about e-commerce platforms skyrocketed from 95,270 in 2018 to a staggering 4,44,034 in 2023. According to the survey conducted by LocalCircles, approximately 56% of online shoppers mentioned that the reviews and ratings on various e-commerce apps and websites are positively biased. The survey also concluded that merely 9% of the e-commerce apps have enabled the feature to easily spot sponsored or influencer reviews and ratings. This is not the only issue; consumers also noticed that negative reviews posted on these platforms were improperly handled. The same survey detected that 16% of the consumers realised that their negative reviews were posted in the last year’s timeline.
The survey further mentioned, “Despite the standards that prohibit deletion of negative ratings and reviews, the survey revealed that the percentage of eCommerce users who found that their negative ratings and reviews were not always published has risen from 45 per cent to 52 per cent in the last 12 months”.
The government, being aware of the situation, has planned to take significant steps to control the situation. According to TimesNow, the government will enforce a control order IS 19000:2022 standard, outlining the rules and guidelines for both reviewers and platforms. This standard will ensure transparency by:
- Reviewers’ identities will not be hidden any further.
- To prevent tampering with the reviews, they cannot be altered after posting a review.
- The platform must encourage all reviews; they can no longer suppress negative reviews.
Why Is This Important?
In their survey, LocalCircles reported, “Despite the controversy, 46 per cent of eCommerce users surveyed say they always refer to ratings and reviews when buying while 44 per cent referred to them occasionally.” Consumers rely heavily on these reviews and ratings before placing their orders. Such types of false ratings and reviews erode trust and lead to poor purchasing decisions.
